Hello, Dolly! (song)

Infobox Single
Name = Hello, Dolly!


Artist = Louis Armstrong
from Album =
B-side = A Lot of Livin' To Do
Released = 1964
Format = 45 rpm
Recorded = December 3, 1963
Genre = Pop
Label = Kapp (573)
Length = 2:27
Writer = Jerry Herman
Producer = Mickey Kapp

"Hello, Dolly!" is the title song of the popular 1964 musical of the same name. Louis Armstrong's version was inducted in the Grammy Hall of Fame in 2001. The music and lyrics were written by Jerry Herman, who also wrote the scores for many other popular musicals including "Mame" and "La Cage aux Folles".

History

"Hello, Dolly!" was first sung by Carol Channing, who starred as Dolly Gallagher Levi in the original 1964 Broadway cast. In December 1963, at the behest of his manager, Louis Armstrong made a demonstration recording of "Hello, Dolly!" for the song's publisher to use to promote the show. [ [http://wc08.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=33:fnfpxv9hldae All Music: Hello, Dolly! history] ] "Hello, Dolly!" opened on January 16, 1964 at the St. James Theatre in New York City, and it quickly became a major success. The same month, Kapp Records released Armstrong's publishing demo as a commercial single.

The best-known recording is by Louis Armstrong, in 1964, which reached number-one on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100, breaking The Beatles' streak of three number-one hits in a row (they also held the top three spots) and becoming the biggest hit of Armstrong's career, followed by a gold-selling album of the same name. [Bronson, Fred. "The Billboard Book of Number 1 Hits" (2003), Billboard Books, ISBN 0823076776] For the song Armstrong received a Grammy Award for "Best Vocal Performance, Male" in 1964. In 1965, it received a Grammy Award for "Best Song" (Jerry Herman (songwriter), performed by Louis Armstrong). The song also spent nine weeks atop the adult contemporary chart shortly after the opening the musical. Louis Armstrong also performed the song (together with Barbra Streisand) in the popular 1969 film "Hello, Dolly!".

Notable cover versions

"Hello, Dolly!" is a pop standard as evidenced by the number and quality of singers who cover the classic. A partial list includes:

* Petula Clark (1964) in English, French, and Spanish
* Bobby Darin (1964)
* Duke Ellington (1964)
* Ella Fitzgerald for her (1964) albums "Hello, Dolly!" and "Ella at Juan-Les-Pins"
* Judy Garland and Liza Minnelli (1964)
* Marvin Gaye (1964)
* Benny Goodman (1964)
* Frank Sinatra for his (1964) album "It Might As Well Be Swing"
* Frankie Vaughan (1964)
* Lawrence Welk (1964)
* Herb Alpert's Tijuana Brass (1964)
* Sammy Davis, Jr. (1965)
* Mary Martin (1965)
* Pearl Bailey (1967)
* Matt Monro 1968
* Barbra Streisand (1969)
* Ethel Merman (1970)
* Jean-Jacques Perrey - Moog Indigo (album) 1970. The song was entirely instrumental and re-created with a moog styling.
* Lou Rawls (1979)
* Cab Calloway (1991)
* Wayne Newton (1992)
* Liza Minnelli (1997)
* Andy Williams (1999)
* Nancy Wilson (2001)
* Harry Connick, Jr. for his (2007) album "Oh, My NOLA"
* Others [ [http://wc08.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=17:627920~1~T00A All Music: Song List] ]

Sinatra's rendition of the song, recorded with the Count Basie Orchestra, features new lyrics, improvised by Sinatra, which pay tribute to Louis Armstrong.

As successful as the stage show and title song itself turned out to be, however, the tune "Hello, Dolly!" unfortunately became caught up in a lawsuit which could have endangered timely plans for bringing the musical to the silver screen. Composer Mack David (1912-1993) sued for infringement of copyright, because the first four bars of Herman's show number were the same as those in the refrain of David's song "Sunflower" from 1948. As he recounts in his memoirs, Herman had never heard "Sunflower" before this and wanted a chance to defend himself in court, but, for the sake of those involved in the show and the potential film, he reluctantly agreed to pay a settlement before the case would have gone to trial.ref|Herman-lawsuit

The song's refrain is:Hello, Dolly! Well, hello, Dolly!It's so nice to have you back where you belong!

Trivia

* Carol Channing also sang a variation of the song, titled "Hello, Lyndon!", which became an anthem for the 1964 presidential campaign of Lyndon Johnson.
* Distributed with WordPress, the "Hello Dolly" plugin displays a random line from the song in the corner of WordPress' administration panel.
* The song was featured in the short film 'Raving', produced by Elle Magazine and directed by Julia Stiles. It was sung by the actress Zooey Deschanel at the end of the film.
* The song is featured, in part, in the Pixar film "WALL-E".

Footnotes

References

#Jerry Herman (with Marilyn Stasio). "Showtune: A Memoir". New York: Donald I. Fine Books, 1996, pp. 102-108.